Summary: Non-signatoryOman has not made a public statement articulating its views on cluster munitions or position on joining the convention.It abstained from voting on the first UN resolution on the convention in December 2015. Oman has participated as an observer in several meetings of the convention, including the First Review Conference in September 2015. Oman is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions, but it has imported cluster munitions and likely stockpiles them.

Policy

The Sultanate of Oman has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Oman has not made a public statement articulating its views on cluster munitions or its position on joining the convention.[1]

On 7 December 2015, Oman abstained from voting on a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “UN General Assembly (UNGA)[2] Oman did not explain why it abstained on the non-binding resolution that 140 countries voted for, including many non-signatories.

Oman participated in several meetings of the Oslo Process, including the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 as an observer, but it did not sign the convention in December 2008.[3]

Oman participated as an observer in the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia in September 2015, but did not make a statement. Oman also attended Meetings of States Parties of the convention in 2011 and 2013.Oman voted in favor of a UNGA resolution in December 2015 that expressed outrage at the continued use of cluster munitions in Syria.[4]

Oman is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Oman is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions.

Oman is thought to possess a stockpile of cluster munitions. In 2002, the United States (US) announced the sale of 50 CBU-97/105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons to Oman.[5] Jane’s Information Group reports that Oman possesses BL-755 and Rockeye cluster bombs, as well as 122mm Grad-type and Hyrda-70 rocket launchers, but it is not known if the last two include ammunition stockpiles that include cluster munitions.[6]

Policy

The Sultanate of Oman acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 20 August 2014 and the treaty entered into force on 1 February 2015, making it the 162^nd State Party.

Oman’s initial transparency measures report for the Mine Ban Treaty was submitted in August 2015. The report states that Oman has directed the legislative authority to create legislation that criminalizes any violation of the treaty and established a permanent committee for the implementation of the treaty at the office of the Army chief of staff.[1]

Oman submitted its second Article 7 report covering the period of 1 February 2015 to 1 March 2016.[2] The report does not contain updated information regarding the status of Oman’s implementation legislation.

Oman participated in the Ottawa Process leading to the Mine Ban Treaty and has remained sporadically engaged.[3] The ICBL had engaged with Oman on the Mine Ban Treaty for years, with visits to Muscat by its diplomatic adviser in 2012 and other representatives in 2007. In March 2014, Oman’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, informed the Mine Ban Treaty envoy, Princess Astrid of Belgium, of the government’s decision to join the Mine Ban Treaty.

Oman’s Ambassador Lyutha Sultan Al-Mughairy deposited the accession instrument at the UN in New York on 20 August 2014. In a statement, she said the move “demonstrates that all States from all parts of the world have a role to play in ending the suffering caused by these insidious weapons.”[4]

With Oman’s accession, half of the Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) members are now party to the treaty, while Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have not joined.

Oman participated as an observer at the Mine Ban Treaty’s First Review Conference in Nairobi in 2004 and the Third Review Conference in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014. It has attended most of the treaty’s Meetings of States Parties, including the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November-December 2015. Oman has also participated in many of the treaty’s intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva, but did not attend those held in May 2016.

Oman is not a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions or the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Oman is obligated to destroy its stockpile of antipersonnel mines as soon as possible and no later than 1 February 2019.

In its initial Article 7 transparency report, Oman declared a stockpile of 17,260 antipersonnel mines of Belgian, British, and German manufacture.[5] It has stated its intention to retain 2,000 antipersonnel mines and has established an implementation unit to organize stockpile destruction and clearance.[6] Oman noted in its initial Article 7 report that while it possessed an operational stock of claymore mines they were limited to command detonation mode.[7]

Oman’s second Article 7 transparency report states that it destroyed 1,526 antipersonnel mines in two destruction events in September 2015.[8]

Oman officials previously stated that Oman had never produced or exported antipersonnel mines, while it had imported and used them in the past.[9]

Suspected to be contaminated by mines.

Article 5 deadline: 1 February 2025
(Unclear whether on target to meet deadline)

Recommendations for action

• The Sultanate of Oman should present plans for implementation of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations at the earliest opportunity, at least at the Mine Ban Treaty Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties.
• In doing so, Oman should detail any needs for international technical assistance in non-technical and technical survey of mined areas.

Contamination 

Oman is suspected to be contaminated by mines, though the precise location and extent of any remaining threat is not known. In its initial Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report, submitted in 2015, Oman declared that there were no areas in the Sultanate confirmed to be mined, but reported “many” suspected mined areas in the south, particularly Dhofar Region.[1]

According to the 2015 report, during the mid-1960s to mid-1970s the presence of rebel movements in Dhofar led to “vast” areas being affected by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines. After the end of the conflict in 1975, the government made significant efforts to clear the areas, but it is impossible to be sure that the areas have been fully cleared. This is for three reasons: the size of the region (about 99,000km²); the lack of maps or marking; and the terrain (which includes mountains and valleys), with many mined areas located on steep slopes. In addition, the rain over the years may have scattered the mines.[2]

In 2001, it had been reported that the Royal Army of Oman had mapped seven zones of suspected mined areas based on historical records of battlefield areas, unit positions, and mine incident reports.[3]

Program Management 

Oman has no functioning mine action program. It is expected that survey and clearance will be performed by its army engineers or police explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) personnel.

Land Release 

There are no reports of land release occurring in 2015.

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Oman is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 February 2025. It is too early to say whether Oman will meet this deadline but it should be readily achievable if modern land-release approaches are employed successfully. Oman did not take the floor at the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties to present a plan to implement its Article 5 obligations.

The Monitor gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review supported and published by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which conducted mine action research in 2016 and shared it with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

No contribution from the Sultanate of Oman was reported for 2014.

Between 2011–2013, Oman provided a total of US$300,000 to mine action in Afghanistan through the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Action (VTF).[1]